Borough of Pendle
Flexibility And A Strong Partnership
Increased Savings Deliver a Plan For The Future
With a budget of £21m, Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire provide services to a population of 90,000. Liberata has been working in partnership with Pendle Council since 2005 and a new contract sees this continuing to 2030. The council need to save a further £3.8m over the next three years and build for the future. Pendle adjoins Burnley, another customer of Liberata in this region.
Our partnership with Liberata now runs to 2030 as they continue to help us reduce our budget deficit whilst delivering high quality services.
Chief Executive
Our targets were...
Deliver Savings
A true partnership that through its flexibility is delivering continued cost savings to the council.
Reduce budget deficit
Liberata will contribute to further reductions of almost £4m going forward whilst boosting revenue.
Implement the channel migration plan
Channel shift continues towards its target of moving 65% of customer transactions online while ensuring there is sufficient provision for vulnerable customers.
Ensure it is easy to access services without technical knowledge
Free to use WiFi has been installed in the customer service centre and one-to-one help is available for people who need it.
Revive the local economy
Over 150 jobs created in the town centre and support for local businesses applying for business rates relief.
Invest in IT services
Legacy systems have been removed and an in-house IT department transferred to Liberata, delivering efficiencies and speeding up processes.
How Liberata helped
Collaboration
Liberata is supporting the council with channel shift in corporate services. We also support them with events and implementation dates to ensure we are communicating the same message to different audiences. The team at Pendle are now also involved in servicing a number of other strategic partners across Liberata, operating as a shared service centre.
Digital maximisation
We are redesigning all services to exploit developments in technology including the continual shaping and set-up of the Digital by Default programme. Further investment in intelligent customer experiences via Liberata’s partnership with Jadu will deliver increased savings while the implementation of further IT changes will benefit employees and supplies too.
Engagement
Liberata engage with the council’s executive leadership team regularly in their frontline role as the eyes and ears of both the council and Liberata. Members are also encouraged to transact online so they can experience the same process as local people using the services.
Social value
Walk-in customers are shown how to use a PC in the customer service centre or how to find council services on their own device ensuring they are confident in accessing services. Free WiFi in the centre ensures online access is available to all and that citizens are not excluded from accessing council services Throughout the contract, Liberata has been supporting the council with reviving the local economy and specifically with ensuring that local businesses apply for business rates relief, to which more than 70% of them are entitled.
What we achieved
150+
new jobs created
15 Mins
Majority of customers seen face-to-face within 15 minutes
65%
target for moving customer transactions online is on track
£8m
deficit reduction contribution alongside increased revenue
£3.5m
increase in Council Tax collected and collection rates maintained
81%
drop in face-to-face appointments as digital self-service continues its’ rollout
